Yesterday, we covered the surprising story of Emma Roberts being arrested for domestic violence after biting and bloodying the nose of her boyfriend, Evan Peters (“American Horror Story”) from within in their Montreal hotel room. I attempted to take a very neutral stance about this incident that occurred on July 7. In doing so, I mentioned Emma’s father — Eric Roberts — in passing but decided not to discuss his violent past because I didn’t feel it proper to draw conclusions about Emma based upon her father’s actions. Certainly, Emma may have been influenced if she ever witnessed her dad’s ways, but it’s not fair to assume she could be violent simply because her father possesses … a history.

Obviously, nobody besides Emma and Evan knows what really happened in that hotel room. We’re also not sure if these two were under the influence of any alcohol or drugs either, but there seems to be an underlying current of thought, which holds that because Emma is smaller than Evan, she must have been defending herself. Who knows? All we really know is that Emma was arrested because Evan was (according to police) the one with visible injuries. In the aftermath of the yesterday’s revelation, Emma and Evan released a joint statement that explained the entire affair as being “an unfortunate incident and misunderstanding” and that they were “working together to move past it.” Right.

In addition to what we already reported, there have been a few updates from TMZ. First off, there are new photos that show Evan comforting Emma Tuesday in New Orleans. We can assume from these photos that the couple had just learned that the media had reported the incident, but it could have been anything that caused the tears. In these photos, Emma is openly wailing, and Evan has placed his arms around his girlfriend. Strange, right? I’m not trying to talk smack about Emma merely because she is a female, but I do find it strange that Emma has “discovered” this new information on the street. I feel like even in the case of an informative phone call, a famous person would have immediately run indoors to escape the paps. But again, I’m not in Emma’s position. Now there is a disturbing report from Us Weekly that discusses Emma and Evan’s “passionate” and “extreme” relationship. Uh-oh:

Young love isn’t always pretty. As previously reported, Emma Roberts was arrested on domestic violence charges in Montreal July 7 after a heated argument with boyfriend Evan Peters reportedly turned physical. “It was an unfortunate incident and misunderstanding. Ms. Roberts was released after questioning and the couple are working together to move past it,” reps for Roberts, 22, and Peters, 26, told Us Weekly in a statement.

TMZ reported that the American Horror Story actor sustained a bloody nose and bite marks during the altercation, which took place in their hotel room. “Emma is very dramatic,” one source tells Us of the We’re the Millers actress, niece to superstar Julia Roberts, adding that she can get “wound up” during arguments. The July 7 episode, says the insider, went “way out of control.”

“They’re a couple young kids,” adds a second source of the “inseparable” and openly affectionate pair, who’ve been dating since spring 2012. “Their romance is pretty extreme. They just behave in a way that’s very passionate.”

This latest spat, doesn’t mean the end of the road for the former Adult World costars, who next team up for season three of American Horror Story, currently shooting in New Orleans. “They will not break up,” the first source insists. “When they are good, they are crazy in love.”

Ugh, the cycle of violence. Without getting too personal, I will admit to having a good friend who has been there to a degree although the first (and only) time she ever experienced the wrath of a violent partner, she hauled her ass out of the situation a few days later. But again, she was in neither Emma nor Evan’s position, and perhaps they’re both violent people. TMZ has also posted a few photos of Emma with bruises and bandages a few days after the reported altercation in Montreal. What a mess.

Sounds like Chris Brown and Rihanna. And this is how people around them enable it: they think about how great they are together when they’re in a good mood. But at the end of the day, this is not a healthy relationship. Constant screaming, and getting physical, is really a sign of something very wrong!!

Still. kindof funny how this is just being dismissed by saying “maybe they are both violent”, and let them be..

Rihanna is also “violent”, she smashed her own brothers head with a lamp or something for crying out loud, and brags about liking hardcore stuff like in S&M, yet everyone will forever put Chris Brown on a pedestral and boycott him (bearing in mind how many white successful actors like Charlie Sheen continue to be given a pass.. with him everybody always remembers the drug hazes but never the assaults). Since Emma is a white woman, along with nepotism(similarly to Charlie..hmm), probably this will all be forgotten within weeks.

It’s kind of annoying how Chris Brown’s fans always use the race card against anyone who still has a problem with him. The reason why my generation still brings up the Chris brown incident is because he was really popular when we were in 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th grade, and we really remember when he beat Rihana. We also clearly remember how people kept making excuses for him, and how that wasn’t the first time he had assaulted her. We remember how much the girls in our grade loved him. I bring up Charlie Sheen for the same reason: I clearly remember what he did, and I don’t respect him any more than I respect Chris Brown. I know lots of people (including my mom) who feel the same exact way about him. Someone else yesterday brought up Sean Penn, but I didn’t remember Sean Penn beating Madonna. But you’re right about it seeming like Charlie got more of a pass than Chris did. Part of that is because Charlie wasn’t as popular with the young crowd, part of it was because Charlie already had a bad rep for things besides domestic violence by the time his abuse came out, whereas with Chris that was the first bad thing that he did, and part of it was racism.

The story on yesterdays thread said that both Emma and Evan had been assaulting each other, but that Emma was the one who got arrested because Evan had the most visible injuries. If that story is true, then it’s not fair to discuss the violence of one but ignore the violence of the other. But if that’s not true, and Emma is the abuser, then she deserves all the criticism.

There is something wrong in this sentence. The phrase ‘to be put on a pedestal’ means to think someone is perfect. You need some separation between the idea of putting Chris Brown on a pedestal and boycotting. Either that or you’ve picked the wrong conjunction. I would recommend using or next time. Sorry. I only commented because it’s becoming increasingly hard to read comments online.

I will tell a story here that may or may not be similar to this situation. My husband and I, when we just dating, once got into a physical fight on a holiday. I was overly intoxicated, he was also drunk. All of the issues in our relationship at that time (pent up jealousy, anger, stress, etc.) came out at the same time. I spit in his face and punched him in the mouth. He briused my arms and legs trying to hold me down and control me. It was a very, very scary and sobering situation. After about a week of tip toeing around each other (we loved together at the time), we had the biggest talk we’ve ever had in our lives. EVERYTHING was discussed and at the end, we learned that we both hold in our emotions and problems until we blow. We promised to never do that again and slowly eased back into normal life. Relationships are strange and no one truly knows the situation except the couple. Sometimes domestic violence is mind blowing obvious (Chris Brown). Sometimes it’s not (Emma Roberts). For what it’s worth, hubby and I just celebrated our 1st wedding anniversary and 7 years of being together. We still talk about that fight on an effort to communicate 100%. For us, it was a lesson we had to learn.

Oh my! This explains some of the ridic flame wars we see here. If you can log in under different namres and you have NO life, you can go about just agreeing with your own posts under different names. I will never see another Jolie/Pitt piece the same way again lol.

I think Chris Brown is very different for the following non-racial reasons:

1. He choked her until she passed out, and then left her at the side of the road. Squeezing someone’s windpipe until their eyes roll back in their head and they stop moving is a pretty big deal, IMO.

2. CB didn’t just have one incident. He also assaulted Frank Ocean and threw a chair through the window on Good Morning America, bar fight with Drake, etc.

3. Chris Brown has shown no remorse, and consistently positions himself as the victim. Perhaps if he would have addressed the issue head on and started supporting domestic violence charities (ala Vick), I might feel differently.

4. This is Emma’s first incident. It remains to be seen if she will be violent in the future. If she is, she deserves the outrage that comes with it.

Agree with everything you said Tiffany. the reason Chris Brown has gotten so much shit is because he a total dick wad. Not once has he shown true remorse and he is constantly throwing temper tantrums and getting into fights about petty shit. I will never understand the support this guy gets. ugh

@Tiffany +1 as well. And to add to the list, he also faked his community service. And raged on that model during the hit and run, and if it wasn’t for that girl he’s dating (I can’t remember her name, but the one in the love triangle w Rihanna?) he would have probably gotten violent.

Once again, white vs black comes up. On this site, nobody at all is writing off what she did as oh its not her fault. Maybe you are reading this on other sites, but you can’t pull the race card here when most of us agree that it was wrong.

@Meaghen – I agree… I really hate when someone tries to pull the race card on an issue (& on a site like this, who *don’t* think that way) that it has nothing to do with, trying to use it as some sort of justification/defense.

In my longest relationship to date (7 years) we def. got into a couple full-on screaming matches. One time I kicked (very hard) the dashboard of his new car with the heel of my boot. I know that’s not the same as physical violence but it was unusual for me to get THAT mad. Abuse on a consistent basis, whether mutual or not, is definitely symptomatic of a larger problem. That being said, I can understand getting to this point, when there’s a lot of passion involved, and maybe not a lot of communication.

I just could never see myself in a relationship where this kind of behavior is acceptable or forgivable. It just doesn’t sound like a healthy relationship to begin with, with all that drama, jealousy, underlying anger. Hopefully you have stopped drinking?

I will never understand people who try to normalize this kind of behavior, or try to imply that fighting is part of a relationship or that it’s no big deal. This is why society does nothing about domestic violence in most cases. the delusion that all couples do it, to a point. Arguing, sure, it’s normal. Constant fights were alcohol, drama, anger, jealousy and violence have played a part are certainly not ok. And maybe nobody landed in the hospital this time, but for you to imply that domestic violence is only horrible when it’s a case like Rihanna’s, and Emma’s case is not that bad, wow… I don’t think you’ve really learned your lesson, especially because you blamed alcohol.

It’s great that you guys have not hit each other again, but you’ve only been married for one year. Too soon to speak. And it’s never ok to undermine physical fights between partners. All violence is wrong and it can always escalate.

Hi Annie, I’m the OP you responded to above and I wanted to let you know that I respect your opinion. Everyone reacts to life events in different ways. If you ever find yourself in a similar situation, I would sincerely support you taking your own advice. The fight i discussed above wasn’t fun. Or easy to process and deal with. Or something we’re OK with, years later. But it was a huge wake up call and something that has guided our relationship in a big way. If you re-read my post, I certainly don’t blame alcohol; I blame us. It was our fault completely. We both had mental issues that we refused to address head on and it erupted in a disgusting way. Since that night, we’ve learned a lot. My husband is no longer the bitter, jealous guy he was when he was 22. I’m no longer the egotistical, Ms. Always Right I was at that age either. And that’s a really good thing.

Your opinions are yours and you’re not wrong. I didn’t intend my post to in anyway support domestic violence but rather try to share a personal experience that related to the Celebitchy post. This world would be a lot easier to handle if everything was black and white or right and wrong. But that’s not reality. You’re right that being married for 1 year isn’t a huge accomplishment. But we’ve owned a house together for 4 years, lived together for 6 years, and have been dating for 7.

Every single person and every single relationship is different. So your opinion and actions you would have taken in my situation aren’t wrong. But neither are mine and last time I checked, we’re one of the happiest couples I know.

@Hillshmill: I too would like to thank you for bringing your experience to the table. It makes my day to know that there are people who actually LEARN from their mistakes, and grow together as couples as a result of adversity. That kind of commitment is hard to come by these days.

I appreciate you sharing your story and it reminds me that one of the most damaging aspects of violence in relationships is that, generally, it’s kept completely quiet. But I think it’s when people feel they can’t talk about their experiences and impulses that things become an abusive cycle.

To me, there is a difference between people who are frighteningly abusive like Chris Brown, and you can see the violence in every aspect of their life (like breaking windows before interviews, threatening people whose car they crash into, etc…) and the dynamics that relationships can bring to the surface. There’s a spectrum like there is for everything else although we all know some things are just absolutely not okay.

I’m discouraged by how black and white the issue of physical violence has become while verbal abuse and threats are considered basically okay when research continues to show that verbal and psychological abuse are generally more damaging than physical abuse. People need more options for how to deal with feelings that come up in intimate relationships and more outlets for help instead of just being labeled.

Thank you for sharing this. I was about to share a very personal story in the same vein as yours.

When my fiance and I were just getting serious, we had one fight like that on our first vacation alone. I had unresolved mental issues, and he’d taken an Ambien without knowing how it would affect him. He turned into a different person and I snapped (not uncommon at the time for me). Nobody hit anybody but there was pushing and screaming.

It scared the hell out of us, so I got therapy and realized my antianxiety med was exacerbating my problems. Neither of us will touch a pharmaceutical unless it’s absolutely necessary, and we worked through our problems. The lesson we learned was exactly the same one you did: how to talk to each other.

I’ve never been in that situation before or since, but I am glad it happened. I am a better person now, after having been in denial about my behavioral issues. I realized how much he had been tolerating me, torn between his love for me and my treatment of him. We stayed together and are the strongest couple I know now. We celebrate that time as a turning point and an eye-opener, rather than looking on it with painful regret.

Congrats on your anniversary. I’m glad your unfortunate fight has been made into a positive learning experience as well. Don’t let naive people label your relationship as violent, troubled, or wrong just because you had the courage to share this. Nobody knows your real relationship except you and your husband.

Nerd, thanks for sharing your story as well. The more I’ve talked about the fight my husband and I had, the more I hear from other couples who had similar experiences. The couples who took it upon themselves to address the mental and personality issues they had that led to the fight end up growing a lot. The ones that refuse to address the issues tend to fall into a cycle of blow ups and sometimes violence. Humans are fascinating and I’m constantly amazed at our ability to both change and not change when faced with conflicts. Beat of luck to you!

Exactly. Sometimes these terrible things happen, for a variety of reasons. It can either become a vicious cycle or a learning experience. People rarely hear about these things as learning experiences, because the violent cycles are discussed much more, and are much more serious. They seem more prevalent. Because of that, people will often put you into that box. If you learned something from it, though, you don’t let them get to you.

Ambien nearly destroyed my marriage in the first year. (A while ago now.) Hubby can’t sleep in the same bed with another person unless it’s at *least* a king-size mattress, and it took us awhile to learn that he was not just going to adjust. We’re pretty well-educated, pharmaceutical savvy people, and we had NO idea how regular use of Ambien was going to ramp up his anxiety levels and affect his personality. It was scary stuff. Sorry to go completely OT, but when you mentioned Ambien, I had to chime in. I don’t talk about it a lot, but it was a terrible experience, and I would warn anyone taking Ambien to be on the lookout for increased anxiety and personality changes. It is, as James Brown might say, a hell of a drug.

Chime away, Katherine! I loathe Ambien and Lunesta now, and I tend to tell people that without going into the nitty gritty of my own life because I know a lot of other examples. At the time I was not aware of the effects, either, and it was actually me who gave him a sample because he has trouble sleeping on vacation. I had always tolerated it fine but my fiance absolutely did not.

Then a few weeks later a patient of mine ended up driving three hours in the middle of the night, ending up in a mountain town and having no recollection of where or why he was driving! It was on the local news, actually. I did some research, and the stuff people do on Ambien is crazy.

As for myself, I was being treated with Celexa for general anxiety, and it actually ended up causing me to start having panic attacks and induced pseudo-bipolarism, where I was lashing out for zero reason and then immediately regretting hurting people. Luckily, my anxiety can be controlled now without medication that makes me have fits.

Ironically, I’m a neurological pharmaceutical researcher (though not an MD) and I learned all of this outside of my job.

Thanks for reminding us that there can be nuance even in DV cases. I didnt comment on yesterdays piece because of a personal experience that led to my biting my bf. We were arguing over some bills and I got so mad I tried to leave. He felt we should keep talking so he tried to restrain me. He basically just stood infront of me and held either of my arms to my sides. I felt very violated because although he wasnt hurting me, he had taken away my agency. So I did the only thing you can do while your arms are pinned – I took a bite!

If the cops had showed, they would have arrested me. I had no visible injuries and he had a bite mark. But they would be missing the nuance.What is a 110 pound female expected to do when a 160 pound male corners her to keep her from leaving. Sit down and obey??

Thats why I would rather hear from Emma what happened before I pass judgement. Yes its a gender based double standard but it exists for good reason. The power differentials make unjustified Female on Male incredibly rare. Ofcourse where the Female reacts with disproportionate force the Justice system should deal with her.

@Hillshmill – I know you’ve already received 800 or so comments saying the same thing, but I just wanted to thank you, as well. Having never had that experience, it’s *so* easy to view things as being entirely ‘black & white’.

I admit, I was one of them. I probably still am for the most part, but your story has really made me think. =) Thank you for sharing something so intensely personal, it really made a difference to more than one of us, I’m sure.

I can relate to being in a violent relationship and in most cases there’s no fixing. Once a couple loses respect for each other and physical and verbal assault start taking place, there’s no turning back; you just learn from it and move on to the next one.
It doesn’t matter who started it or whose fault it is, I just hope they know better not to keep this going the way it is or it can get much worse and cause irreparable damages!

This. Completely. If you don’t respect each other and treat each other with dignity, the relationship is doomed. It’s always going to happen again because they don’t know how to talk to each other properly. They lash out with insults, verbal abuse, physical abuse. Substances probably play a role in this too, every time. And what started all of this? Probably jealousy.
It’s just unhealthy all around.

I’ve seen both my sisters be in relationships like this. It never gets better unless they break up.

I completely agree. I just don’t think most people are able to come back from getting to the point of physical violence with one another. And when someone puts their hands on you once, they have proved they are capable of hitting you. That they are capable of letting their anger boil to the point of directing it towards your person instead of an object. That is worse then hitting a wall or throwing a chair which is bad and threatening enough. How can you love someone and bruise them or make them bleed? How do you know they will never, under any circumstances, do it again?

Gabriella, I agree. I was in a ‘passionate and extreme’ relationship once too. Well ‘passionate and extreme’ would be the politicians sugarcoating of abusive. When it was good it was amazing, but when it was bad it was horrible. It ended similarly to Rihanna’s fight, except most of my bruises were under clothes so people couldn’t see them. I left him after that last fight, but it was slowly escalating and when he choked me until I had a seizure and passed out I knew that next time I could be dead, and it would never get better.

If anybody is sticking up for Emma, I can understand it to a certain degree, and not because she is an innocent little white girl, but mostly because it seems like a reaction to being held down.

I’m curious on the back story, but we will never know, therefore I won’t feel right passing judgement on this situation. They will either work it out and stay together, or the fights will escalate until they have a ‘no going back’ moment.

Meaghan, I feel your pain, sister. I’m glad you walked away before it got to a much serious point! I can’t imagine what it must be like to fear for your life next to your loved one! But I do have one permanently twisted index finger, result of a very ‘passionate, extreme’ argument and lords knows what other parts of me he could’ve broken and deformed… I certainly wasn’t going to stick around and find out!

Or, alternatively, that if someone responds to something you say by biting you, that THEY are not the one…

I mean, it’s difficult to parse this situation because we don’t know the facts, we’re all probably a little biased to feel sympathy for the woman as the more likely victim, and (let’s be blunt) people just don’t like Emma Roberts through association with her aunt. (I cannot be the only person who thought, “I can totally see Julia Roberts biting a guy” even though that’s nothing to do with anything…can I? Okay, I’m a horrible person.)

Bottom line is, whoever did what, with whatever provocation, this idea that a passionate relationship is necessarily violent is moronic and destructive and needs to be stamped out. It’s the exact kind of logic that abusers of both sexes use to keep their victims in line – “I only hurt you because I love you so much, I get so jealous, I just feel things too deeply” etc etc. Then before you know it you’re Rihanna, basically, defending the guy who tried to kill you because the fear is so much more intoxicating than a sane relationship with mutual respect and no blood loss…

If these two are going to seek therapy and move past their destructive behaviour, I wish them well. But the statement that “oh, they’re passionate people and this is an expression of that” just suggests that they are already a little too in love with the idea that violence is an acceptable expression of love. It’s not, whatever the genders of those involved.

If they need pain in order to feel loved, they should just get into BDSM and establish a safe word already. Put that passion in a safe context.

I completely agree. The “I only hurt you because of I love you so much” is the perfect party line of abusive an controlling people. It’s not passion, it’s childish stupidity. And I dislike this girl all on her own, lol. It has nothing to do with her Aunt. She has a reputation for being an entitled asshole and b*tch with no talent to even back it up.

Ive gotta call BS on this. She bit him, she punched him, she flipped out on him. She didnt have bloody visible marks (beyond ones she likely sustained when he was holding her back) and was arrested. Remind you of anyone else? Is she not being raked over the coals for this because she’s someone you can relate to a little better? Outrageous. Sorry folks. I loathe chris b (and rihanna for that matter for her young fans not being enough of an incentive to stay away from him) for being an abusive prick. I’ve never liked emma r for being a prick and now we know she’s an abusive prick. Sorry, i hate to do this folks, but I’m calling race and gender double standards here.

I agree. I was surprised by the very understanding tone of this article.

Until very recently, Black entertainers aren’t usually covered here. So I cringe every time CB is covered because he is not representative of his contemporaries. And he isn’t the only black guy worth reporting on, bcuz he’s just bad news. Not all (limited) black reporting had to be negative you know? But I am happy that good guys are covered more regularly, ie Idris, Chiwetel (NOT Chewy), Jaime etc.

I completely agree that there’s an undeniable race and gender bias in terms of how this is being reported, not just on Celebitchy. People just don’t have the same attitude to domestic violence committed by women, especially not pretty, delicate-looking, rich white girls. There’s an established narrative for domestic violence, and when the faces don’t fit the expected roles, people take a little longer to place the responsibility where it belongs.

However, It’s not quite a like-for-like situation with Chris Brown / Rihanna. Certainly around these parts, a lot of the hate for Brown is related to his attitude ever since the assault – the total self-pity, the victim-blaming, the continued aggression, the delusional attitude that people are making a lot of fuss about nothing. If Chris Brown had ever truly seemed to accept the magnitude of what he did, people would have been a lot more forgiving. Same with Charles Saatchi, in a way – if he’d behaved differently after he throttled Nigella Lawson, if he’d shown any kind of remorse, people would not hate him as they do.

Though if this “passionate, extreme” BS is any indication, Emma may be giving them a run for their money in the blame-avoiding stakes…

McCraw – me too. If one of the other seriously disliked actresses did anything remotely like this they’d be raked over the coals, no matter what color they are, just because they’re the Nemesis du Jour (Imagine if Kristen Stewart was even rumored to have hit anyone).

I agree regarding coverage of black celebs. I get the impression that a black celeb is only newsworthy when they are messing about. Honestly, I can count on one hand the number of full articles on black people that are written in a positive tone. Assuming they even get a full article. Usually Idris and company have to ride on articles on their white costars. Possibly because Idris and co havent misbehaved enough yet to get their own (negative) article

I totally agree. She’s going to get the benefit of the doubt and get away with this because she’s a little white girl. And probably because her aunt is Julia Roberts. She’s going to get the benefit of the doubt that she’s not violent and abusive that Chris Brown will never be able to dream of. Can’t stand her and these double standards.

I just assumed the bruises and bandaids she had were from the fight. From all the accounts, it was a 2-way fight, and they both were attacking each other. And the police said only she was arrested because there was nothing visible on her body. But, I in NO WAY think she was in the right, or feel forgiving to her.

Yes! I don’t understand how people are looking at this situation any differently than Chris and Rihanna. Sounds like Emma attacked Evan and people are making excuses “she could have been defending herself” whatever. Violence is violence. If the shoe was the other foot And she had visible marks and he got arrested people would be raking this guy over the coals and 9 times out of 10 he still won’t get as much bad press as Chris did.

Interesting how people are more open to saying “we don’t know what goes on in their relationship” when it is the woman that is arrested for abuse. If it had been Evan that was arrested would people still have that view?

And if the next time it is him that is arrested for possible abuse, since the relationship is so “volatile and passionate”, what will the headline be then. The cycle of violence is wrong no matter who the “hitter” is or who the victim is.

double plus one. It’s ridiculous that people are giving her a pass because she’s a girl. Newsflash, women can fly off the handle for no reason and get violent without it being their partners fault. Just like men. This is very disturbing.

Josh Brolin had a little incident like this as well and it certainly didn’t ruin his career. Actors may get more chances than Chris Brown or another pop artist who are very dependent on the idea of a fanbase.

It’s because historically and statistically, women are more often victims of domestic violence than they are the perpetrators. When both parties have injuries, it’s not as black and white as “she is at fault” or “he is at fault.”

It’s a matter of not knowing. Is there perhaps some gender bias at play? Sure, but given our society’s history of violence toward, and acceptance of violence toward women, is it any surprise that some people see bruises all over a young woman and don’t rush to put all the blame on her?

I agree with you. I had a close friend that I have known since high-school (ex-friend now). She married and has 2 kids, then divorced when her children were young. She re-married shortly after, and within the space of 2 years became extremely physically and verbally abusive to her new husband. And his children from his 1st marriage. I witnessed some things that turned my stomach and deeply upset me and that is why I had to cut off our 20 year old friendship.
A lot of these incidents were alcohol influenced. Her alcohol abuse, not his. She would drink until she was incoherent and then physically attack him over nothing. He would never hit her, or hurt her in any way. But when she was punching or hitting or slapping him, he would have to physically restrain her, just to defend himself. He would never retaliate. She bruises extremely easily, she would always have huge bruises from punching the walls, attacking her husband and he’s just trying to restrain her. Maybe just pushing her hands away or anything. They are recently divorced. He put up with it a long time. So it’s not always the man that is physically abusive. Women can be the abuser. I agree that if the roles were reversed people would be making a much bigger deal about this.
And before anyone says I am making excuses for Christian Brown or Charlie Sheen, I am 100% not. An abuser is an asshole regardless of gender.

This is straight up damage control from her PR.
Their relationship seems toxic, drama being mistaken for passion and both of them are rumoured to have substance issues.
They prob had a drug/alcohol fueled fight and she hit him. She showed abusive behaviour with her exes as well.

I’m sorry, I don’t care who did what specifically, if they were drunk, or who went to jail. When you’re beating the ever loving shit out of one another – IT’S OVER. Unless you’re a glutton for punishment.

An ex coworker was a very small girl. But she was “passionate” and would beat up on her bf (along with girls at clubs). She threw things at his head during fights. We don’t know if Emma was acting in self defense or not. He may or may not have hit her too. But I just remember my old coworker and her bf. Her bf would not fight back physically; bc she was a petite girl. So not 100% of the time is defense, men can be abused too. However. I’d rather not jump to any conclusions in this case. Since we don’t know the circumstances of this abuse I just hope they both find other partners and more stable relationships.

If he had been the one hauled in by the police, and she the one with bite marks and a bloody nose, you’d be reporting this quite differently. You’d wonder if she was frightened or controlled by him, if she had somewhere safe to go. Consider you coverage of Saatchi and Nigella Lawson. You should also consider the Chris Brown reporting.

What’s mysteriously missing here is all the condemnation of Evan Peters, you know, for going back to his abuser.

If we’re going to talk about double-standards in regards to the Chris Brown scenario, how come so many blamed Rihanna for not setting a better example for victims of abuse, but nobody blames Peters?
Interesting…

@TheOGKitten- And let the church say AMEN! I couldn’t stand how Celebitchy, along with a bunch of other sites, demonized RIHANNA for going back to Chris, when she was obviously exhibiting the classic traits of an abuse victim.

I can’t speak for anyone else, but the fact that she is covered in bruises makes this a more questionable situation for me. We’ve all seen the pictures of Nigella Lawson being strangled by her husband. There’s no question of what happened there. We’ve all seen the pictures of Rihanna. There’s no question there.

If Roberts was wearing pants or jeans, police would not have seen those bruises if they were even visible yet (personally, I never bruise until the next day).

I’m not excusing her for what happened. It sounds as if they were both fighting, and they both need out of that situation.

I so agree re “passion” doesn’t equate to physical violence. Wish whatever clown thought up that piece of crap for PR would have taken 2 secs to think what sort of message that sends to 13-17 yr old girls- that unless my BF and I get in bloody brawls, we’re not “passionate”??? Ick and a half. And trust, if it had been mutual fighting, they BOTH would have told the cops that at the time, unless they were too drunk/pissed off to be thinking straight.

I do feel the reporting looks like a whitewash because one, Emma’s a girl; and two, she’s Julia Roberts’ niece. I think Evan’s not pressing charges out of male pride; he looks like a wimp for letting a girl her size beat on him. I wouldn’t be surprised if his boys are clowning him over the incident.

Sounds like the First True Love syndrome. “No matter what,we’re meant to be together.” Back to what I said when I agreed with Tracker yesterday-break things off, Emma, and get some help or this relationship will eat you alive.

Her aunt has a movie coming out this fall that has already been hyped as a big comeback opportunity. Predictions on this blog were that auntie would begin a big publicity push very soon. This incident will likely shed light on the whole clan’s history of relationship drama (with others and amongst themselves). Should be interesting to watch.

“All we really know is that Emma was arrested because Evan was (according to police) the one with visible injuries.”

Again, I just want to point out that it was Emma’s sources that told TMZ that Emma was only arrested because Evan was the one with visible injuries. That’s her story. The police did not say this. We don’t know all the information the police were privy to that night or why they arrested only Emma.

I am not inclined to believe that the police arrested Emma ONLY because Evan had marks on him and she didn’t. I think there was more to it. It just doesn’t seem quite right. Technically there could be a situation where a man is attempting to murder a woman and somehow she manges to bite him and bloody his nose in self-defense. I am NOT suggesting that is what happened here AT ALL. I’m merely pointing out that I don’t think an arrest would be made solely on who had the bloody nose. Her demaenor at the time–something she said–I just think there was probably more to this story that we will never hear.

Just kidding of course! Can we be serious for a second though? I know that this has already been stated but, I guess I’ll say it again…..Domestic violence is not okay, No matter who the aggressor is. If the roles were reversed Evan Peters would be getting so much hate. A year ago my brother got into a fight with his girlfriend….she hit him in the head with a frying pan! Soo yeah doesn’t really matter your size or gender.

Also I’ve noticed a couple comments stating that Emma has various bruises on her legs. I can tell you that as someone who is very pale I always always always have bruises! half the time I don’t know how I got them. I just find it a little suspect that these got released to TMZ after the news broke. I think Emma camp is trying to make her look like the victim in this case. Any bruises that she got during this confrontation were most likely from Evan trying to hold her back from him.

LaineyGossip mentioned that there was really bad bruising all over her legs, which she had covered up with makeup.

This may or may not be applicable:

When I was in college, a friend of mine was going through some issues. One night she was really drunk and on some drugs (I don’t know what kind), and she fell down a flight of stairs. She was so out of it she could barely remember it happening! But then she had to wear long pants for the next two weeks because her legs were covered in bruises….

Anyways, it functioned as a wake-up call for her and she stopped drinking so much and started attending classes again. But bruising all over a person’s legs and nowhere else implies drugs and alcohol to me, not domestic violence. Just my experience.

Glad to hear your friend got that part of her life straightened out. and yes I agree it definitely sounds like a toxic relationship. Hopefully they get help or split up because if not the fights they do have will be more frequent and more intense.

Sounds like damage control to me. How are you fighting back when you don’t have injuries? why would the police just happen to only arrest a small girl and not her average sized boyfriend if it was so “mutual”? Most abuse is males abusing females, so something must have made them shift away from that presumption. nobody really knows, but the police thought she was the aggressor, and normally we credit the police. Also this is pretty much a wasted chance to talk about abuse because people are walking on eggshells. An abuser can be female. Rich, non-redneck white American people can be abusers. A lot of victims, male and female, don’t fight back either because of size differential or because of fear of further enraging the abuser. Just because the man is larger does not mean he will fight back. The bloody nose stands out to me. If Evan was being aggressive, he could have stopped her from hitting him in his face. Seems like it must have come aggressively and unexpectedly from her.

These two need to part ways STAT!! They are two young to be so attached to each other and they don’t seem to be able to think and talk before they start yelling and hitting. This “passionate” relationship sounds very, very dangerous.

I agree. I’m surprised that many people’s opinion about this situation isn’t as strong as Rihanna and Chris’s. Seems like Emma is getting a pass. Funny how 1 picture can make people feel differently about a domestic violence situation.

In my early 20′s, I used words like “passionate” and “extreme” to describe a relationship that was in fact, very emotionally abusive. To me, these are often words that indicate denial of a very unhealthy situation.

When I was in my early 20s I was in a 2.5 year relationship that was marked by regular violence. My boyfriend & I would do drugs & drink to excess & would get into MASSIVE fights. I got so mad once that I smashed my guitar into a million pieces. BF punched holes in walls, broke doors, etc. I almost always had handprint bruises on my arms & he was always covered in scratches. It got worse & worse & he eventually headbutted me in the face & broke my nose. And I STILL stuck with him. We finally broke up after he got us arrested on Thanksgiving for drug possession.

98% of our bullshit & violence could have been avoided if we had just split after the first incident. Everything escalated as we stayed together & we both swore that we loved each other. It took me WAY too long to figure out that you don’t treat someone you love like that.

These 2 need to get the hell away from each other. If they really do love each other, maybe they can be together in the future, but they are no good together right now.

Yeah, her bruises looked pretty extensive – and that was just what we could see of her legs. Biting usually happens when you have no other recourse so I’m thinking she was being held down. A right hook to his nose during an argument, he grabs her and holds her down, she proceeds to bite & kick like hell.

I don’t have a lot of hope that they will be able to learn from this experience (unlike some OPs here). The Roberts clan is not long on smarts. Or class.

Did the authors of this site ever write “Obviously, nobody besides Chris Brown and Rihanna knows what really happened in that car” and give him a pass for brutalizing his lover? Would they have accepted his defense as their relationship being passionate and extreme? If they didn’t, then they are letting this woman off because of gender bias. It’s shameful.

Roberts is an abuser and both she and Peters need therapy and distance.

He needs to get himself out of this situation. I don’t know what his part is in this mess, but enabling her doesn’t help, and when the s**t really hits the fan, he’s the one who’s going to get nailed while people excuse her behavior because she’s such a tiny little thing that people somehow don’t think it counts. The first time he really defends himself, he’s going to jail.

Emma sounds like a big biatch. Slow your roll girl. If i ever touched my man, slapped him, anything, he would walk out on me in a second. I would never expect another person, even a man, to put up with crazy behavior like what Emma Roberts displayed. Its shows such a lack of common human decency for a woman to attack her man like that because a man can’t fight back toe to toe. You are just humiliating him and possibly provoking him into a situation that can land him in jail and that is disgusting behavior.

Thats hilarious they are spinning this as a “passionate” relationship. I am mexican and italian and am a very passionate woman to my man and attacking him out of anger isnt part of our passion. I love to love him. Passion comes from a place a love and respect. Her situation sounds like lust. And she sounds like a big brat and incredibly immature. They both look like they are 12.

wow, i can not believe the blatant double standard here. if the guy had been arrested for giving the girl a bloody nose and biting her, the reaction would be very different. be honest, if this was male on female abuse, would you be putting the same potential excuses out there (abusive parent, it was a ‘mutual’ fight)? shame on you, celebitchy.

These two idiots think they’re the couple from Eminem’s “Love The Way You Lie” video.The song is about 2 emotionally disturbed people who aren’t happy unless they’re either fighting or f&*king.I hate to break it to all the feminists but they’re are women who love drama and aren’t happy unless they’re with a man who they can hit and who calls them a bitch.I know to sane women it sounds terrible but it is very real and in someways,those people are happy with each other.They’re adults and it is their choice.But if you are an actor or singer you should not be stupid enough to get caught or arrested because they should know it’ll ruin their careers.Like I said,idiots.

Oh this completely. My friend was actually in a relationship like this with his ex. She would tell lies about cheating on him to get him upset, she would openly flirt with other guys or hit scream or tell at him for no reason, and when that didn’t work she’s ask outright for him to hit her. He broke up with her thankfully otherwise I was scared she would’ve slapped him with a false rape charge or something. Some of these bitches are crazy.

Leah K — “I hate to break it to all the feminists but they’re are women who love drama and aren’t happy unless they’re with a man who they can hit and who calls them a bitch.”

You’ve got your wires crossed. A blanket-defense of Roberts’ behaviour is the un-feminist response to this situation. A feminist will look at a domestic abuse scenario and acknowledge that in some circumstances the female is the aggressor and the male is the victim. It’s sexist and backwards to assume that “because Emma is smaller than Evan, she must have been defending herself,” as Bedhead theorized.

There are women who abuse men, physically and mentally. Regardless of who is the aggressor, it’s never okay to say “those people are happy with each other. They’re adults and it is their choice.” You are mistaking a consensual, S&M-type dynamic with a relationship built on a foundation of anger, aggression, control, and violence. As a society we have agreed that such behaviour is dangerous and will not be tolerated. It doesn’t matter if the two people are rich celebrities in a fancy hotel room or a trailer in rural town: it’s criminal and unhealthy.

[tl:dr --> As a feminist I resent Roberts' being treated with kid gloves, by the media, by the public and by the judicial system.]

There is nothing passionate about smacking your partner in the face during a heated argument until his nose bleeds. I hate that her PR people are trying to romanticize assault and battery. Their relationship is toxic and excuses should not be made for violent behavior and actions.

When the PR team sees the public at large is not buying the passionate relationship BS these two will pull the plug, just like Kaley Cuolo’s and Henry Cavill’s teams did when their insta-romance wasn’t flying. It galls me when celebrity flaks think people are stupid.

Ugh, I wish Ms. Scrawny and Pale would stop wearing ankle boots as they make her chicken legs look even worse. I’m just shocked this boring, ugly chick has it in her to have a passionate anything, let alone a passionate relationship. I just wish that she was charged to the fullest extent of the law. I also wonder: if someone is assaulted, and the person who did it was arrested, isn’t it up to the prosecutor whether or not they are charged? I don’t know. Anyway, passion does not equal putting your hands on each other and extreme relationships in real life just look childish to everyone else but the couple involved. I hope someone talks some sense into him about leaving this ugly pale chick alone, she doesn’t look worth the aggravation.

I don’t see as much public hate coming her way as Chris Brown, which is unfortunate, because as far as I’m concerned, she deserves it. She has never appeared to be a nice or gracious person or even talented person (unlike Brown who can actually dance and sing). This is like the icing on her milquetoast, boring, and mediocre but very entitled cake. Why does she deserve a career after this? She can’t even do her job (which is acting) very well.

I find it interesting that so many people are willing to give Roberts the benefit of the doubt because she is a woman. These are things I know:

1) The police know what happened far better than any of us. While obviously not ALL law enforcement if fabulous, the fact that they arrested her says they believe she was the violent one. If they had felt both were mutually violent, both would have been arrested.

2) Some people bruise very easily. I haven’t seen the pictures but it is possible her bruises are from her boyfriend trying to hold her down so she would stop hitting him.

3) Again, this article suggests she is capable of violence. It says she gets wound up and sometimes out of control.

4) Women CAN be abusers. My mother hit my father. She was unsuccessful in hurting him but it was ALWAYS her who did the hitting. When he left, she hit us. Until he made it clear her ass would be arrested if it didn’t stop.

I am not saying Roberts is abusive. But I am saying that there is evidence to certainly suggest she is and if she were a man, no one would suggest she was the victim as some have done on this site. I think her being a woman is definitely the reason for kid gloves here and that I disagree with.

I actively work against violence against women — it’s insidious and much under-reported. That being said, I wonder how the media would have spun this story if she had been the one assaulted (assuming without deciding that she assaulted him). If that had been the case, I for one would have lost my rag if a spokesperson released a statement saying “oh it’s just a passionate relationship”. I hear what all you ladies have been saying (and thank you very much for sharing) but IMHO, there is no place for violence in any relationship regardless of who is the perpetrator. No one who resorts to violence should be excused or be allowed to have their behaviour minimized with words such as “passionate”. While abuse against men by women in relationships is considerably, considerably less common, it does occur. Again, assuming that she was the aggressor here (and I don’t know that ANY facts have been established one way or the other but correct me if I’m wrong), she should face the same condemnation he would had he been the one throwing the punches. Violence is unacceptable. Simple as.

Totally agree, this was an out-of-control fight between two immature people who may have been ‘under the influence’ and don’t know how to control their behaviour, it was not due to being passionate or extreme.

The only time I hit someone was my ex and I felt awful. My sister had recently died and he was being obnoxious and stubborn about something totally trivial. Before I knew it my hand and arm took on a life of their own and slapped his face. I was as shocked as he was and apologized profusely, but he should have understood not to push the wrong buttons as I was pretty fragile. However a slap on the face isn’t biting, bruising or bloodying someone, that is horrific and sick behaviour.

I am going to take a perhaps unpopular view here. Emma Roberts is the niece of Julia Roberts. That means there is a lot of $$$ financing this girl. That she has an acting career is beyond me due to her blandness. Up until this time, the general view of her has been vanilla now we are using the words “passionate, abusive, feisty, drunken” all action words. What if this is a PR move to get people to think of her as a leading actress. I am just saying…Think about it. Publicity. Look how many posts there are on this one item where in the past she was lucky to get 20 or so. JMO.

A similar thought has crossed my mind, too. She has a movie coming out in early August. She plays a much edgier character, plus her co-stars are Aniston and Sudekis. An attempt to pull a younger demographic and build interest in a movie with a rather bland cast is a possibility.

This whole thing is such a hot mess, and I find it interesting too that people are giving Emma the benefit of the doubt. Those bruises are big enough that the police would have considered them “visible injuries” and hauled him into. This is just a hot mess period.

My husband and I have been together since we were quite young as well. We had some severe, terrible fights that had a lot of physical overtones (smashing things, breaking things) and we have learned the hard way that it isn’t healthy as a couple to behave that way. Hopefully, they really will work through this with a goal of not getting so physical anymore. If you can break the pattern, and if you both have a goal of being a healthy couple, then you’re on the right path. If you’re addicted to the drama, it will definitely get old and someone will get seriously hurt.